|
(11) | EP 1 752 910 A3 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| (54) | Portable electronic terminal and data processing system |
| (57) The present invention relates to a personal shopping system for combined use in both
the home of a user and a shopping establishment. The system includes a host computer
which is coupled to a host modem and, optionally, to at least one wireless multi-access
point. At least one shopping establishment kiosk cradle is employed to interface with
a portable terminal which is also part of the system. The portable terminal can be
used in both the shopping establishment and the home of the user. It is configured
to read bar codes associated with items related to shopping, and includes a memory,
a bar code reader, a wireless transceiver, and a data interface. The data interface
of the terminal communicates with a data interface of the shopping establishment kiosk
cradle. A home cradle for the portable terminal is also provided and is adapted to
remain in the home of the user. It includes a home portable terminal-receiving station
and a home data interface to communicate with the data interface of the portable terminal.
A home data transfer circuit is also included to permit data exchange between the
home data interface and the modem coupled to the host computer. The portable terminal
can be provided with unique identifying indicia so that the terminal can serve as
a form of identification for a user of the system. Database management of shopping
lists for multiple establishments, including customer preferences, can be performed.
|